Virtual gift card provider Giftango Corp. on Sept. 1 released a software-development kit that enables mobile-phone application companies to develop gift card products consumers may use at the point of sale or redeem online.

Inner Fence, which makes the Credit Card Terminal application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone, on Sept. 1 announced it is shipping the Credit Card Reader, which attaches to an iPhone’s dock connector.

Visa Inc. hopes to prove to banks that a contactless payment chip in a mobile phone is a much more compelling product to consumers than the same chip in a plastic card.

VeriFone Systems Inc. plans to use its acquisition of Way Systems Inc. to attract more merchant interest in its mobile-payment systems. But the deal also eliminates a competitor, analysts say.

To boost its mobile-payment strategy, VeriFone Systems Inc. announced Wednesday it has acquired the assets of Way Systems Inc., a point-of-sale terminal and gateway services provider for mobile merchants. The purchase price included a $6 million upfront payment and an earn-out payable in one year of up to an additional $3 million if certain performance targets are met.

Cimbal Inc. is bypassing any future business models centered on Near Field Communication payments with a mobile-phone application that mimics NFC functionality but without the use of an embedded chip in the handset.

Mobile banking may one day be the channel of choice for members, but OnPoint Community CU here must battle infrastructure issues and perceptions of inadequate security before that happens.

Intuit Inc. is enhancing its GoPayment mobile credit and debit card acceptance service with a card reader designed to attach to Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

Various unregulated new mobile-payment services proliferating in the U.S. could be putting certain consumers at risk for fraud, Consumers Union, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy organization, announced Aug. 24.

Fiserv is offering a mobile remote deposit service, a move that could rapidly expand the adoption of a technology that is becoming a must-have feature at many banks.

China’s Union Mobile Pay service’s transaction sales volume exceeded 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion or 3.1 billion euros) in 2009, a spokesperson for the mobile payment service provider tells PaymentsSource.

Mobile banking is gaining more popularity with the underbanked than it is with conventional bank customers.

Consumers’ increased use of smart phones to shop appears to be having an effect on how small businesses purchase. New survey data suggest that 27% of small companies use mobile devices to make purchases.

Credit unions are expanding beyond Apple's iPhone to develop mobile banking applications for other devices, in particular those running the Google Android operating system.

Bank of America Corp. is collaborating with Visa Inc. and DeviceFidelity Inc. on a mobile-payment program to begin next month in New York enabling consumers’ smart phones to operate as contactless-payment devices, Visa confirms.

Apple Inc. increased speculation that it plans to develop an NFC-enabled iPhone with its hiring this month of mFoundry executive Benjamin Vigier, who has played a key role in developing mobile payment applications for PayPal Inc. and Starbucks Corp.

Mobile-marketing firm Mocapay Inc. this month announced a strategic partnership with payments processor eNational Payments with the goal of helping merchants to deliver customized coupons and other promotions to consumers via mobile handsets.

Vertifi Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastern Corporate Credit Union, said it has developed a fully-featured mobile banking iPhone application for members of Randolph-Brooks FCU in Live Oak, Texas, and it is now available on the App Store.

Checks may be getting an extended life now that financial institutions are developing and rolling out mobile remote-deposit capture technology as part of their mobile-banking applications, observers say.

A new iPhone application that lets consumers rack up reward points by simply walking in to stores could give banks and card issuers the foundation for a truly mobile loyalty program.